CONVOY TRIAL: TWO SOLITUDES IN THE COURTROOM

A microcosm of our national division

Every epic court proceeding needs its own resident eccentric. Meet self-titled Tinfoil Hat Man — on guard for thee outside the Ottawa Courthouse.

All important trials develop a narrative that reaches far beyond the facts layed out in the courtroom. In the OJ Simpson drama it was race in America on the stand. The innocent verdict for a beloved black sports celebrity who had clearly murdered his white wife was an epilogue to a chapter in LAPDs historically terrible relations with and treatment of the black community. It started with Rodney King, a man severely beaten by cops — captured in an early viral video shot by a bystander. The cops were later acquitted. Years later, those events lead to the not guilty for OJ.

An elderly black juror told documentary director Ezra Edelman she voted to free OJ as payback for the King verdict. The world was transfixed. Books and movies were made and it stands as the most reported criminal trial in American history — in part because Judge Ito allowed cameras in the courtroom.

As the morning wore on yesterday in Courtroom Five at the Ottawa Court Building, anticipation and excitement about what might transpire was tamped down by hours of legal housekeeping, most of it brought forward by Crown Tim Radcliffe. He seemed to be struggling with his video evidence and as he did, I spent time studying the mini-community that was taking shape in the gallery.

Behind the Crown on one side, most of legacy media plus professional types focussed on various electronic devices, including phones and laptops. Across the aisle, behind the defense tables many casually attired folks who seemed to have come a long way to support Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. During breaks, everyone was cordial but there wasn’t much mixing. Indy media stuck to themselves and the legacy media types stayed in their own lane. It was clear to see we would be covering the case in different ways. Imagine this happening even five years ago. Unthinkable.

Media, including our documentary crew waiting outside the courthouse.

I couldn’t help feeling it was a microcosm of the country. Like good Canadians, everyone was well behaved but I detected suspicion and the gap between the two sides created and reinforced by our prime minister’s rhetoric was on full display. To be honest, the convoy has exposed a class struggle in this country exacerbated by pols and media who tarnish working people with the usual epithets.

Like the Rodney King case — one of the first where video evidence was paramount, this trial will likely revolve around the thousands of hours shot by citizens and police. The convoy protest was one of the most widely photographed ever given the rise of the cell-phone camera and the growing cadres of citizen journalists who got fed up with legacy media’s bias. But if yesterday is any indication, the Crown is unlikely to produce any gotcha video moments. Constable Craig Barlow presented an 11 minute compilation of videos, some of it police body cam that the Crown must have believed contained inculpatory moments. I didn’t see any and it got worse. From the Ottawa Citizen.

The court was introduced to life in Ottawa during the protests with a 12-minute video of scenes recorded by police from the protest compiled by the first witness in the case, Const. Craig Barlow with the Ottawa police cyber crimes unit.

The sound of revving engines, air horns, chants of “freedom” and “we’re not leaving” filled the Ottawa courtroom as scenes of blocked intersections, large crowds, open fires and Canadian flags played on a large TV screen.

The video also showed a sea of protesters pushing back against police during a massive operation to put an end to the protest.

In her cross-examination, Diane Magas, who is representing Barber, asked Barlow whether he reviewed video of people hugging, games of pickup street hockey, a bouncy castle, and other scenes from the convoy that weren’t included in the compilation video.

When Magus argued to see more than edited snippets and the longer original versions, the video flooded the courtroom with trucker chants of Love not Fear, hardly a scary rallying cry. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey even referred to the phrase in a later discussion. In cross, Magus also asked Barlow if he included any of the video of police hitting protestors in the head. He did not. So she showed it to the court.

As a condition of Tamara’s bail, she is ordered to stay out of the Red Zone in Ottawa unless accompanied by her lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon. That was lifted for lunch yesterday and there will be more talks on-going. I heard from a source there was concern from the Crown Law Office when the bail conditions were originally set, that her presence on the street might trigger locals.

Tamara Lich with her husband Dwayne, yesterday.

And there is some hysteria here. In our hotel, a kindly restaurant worker let loose with a torrent of convoy critiques, including a false tale of a car full of explosives belonging to the protestors. When we mentioned that were this true, there would be criminal charges connected to it and it would have been litigated at the POEC — he defaulted to it’s a secret. And so it goes.

Regardless of what evidence is presented by the Crown at trial, there are a lot of folktales about the protest on a repeat-loop here that perhaps one day an anthropologist can explain.

There was talk last night at dinner that legacy media are doing an OK job covering this case so far. As I said yesterday — perhaps there is a break in our national storm.

I think many people understand what is at stake here, including the judge who is thoughtful and no-nonsense so far. Barber’s lawyer, is going for it. Interesting to watch.

Note: I will be posting Tweets from the courtroom here when I can.

Also - I am quoting from daily news reports for detailed spoken evidence because they are permitted to record the proceedings as they ufold. As an unaccredited journalist, I am not.

Stay critical.

Please consider supporting our documentary team on the ground here.

https://www.givesendgo.com/GB14C